IBM Focused On Paying The Bills And Earned $20 Billion From Consulting – Their Valuation Increased By Another $20 Billion.

Sometimes you need to do what you need to do.

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Here’s what this chat is about;

• 🧓 IBM’s valuation just increased 10% — Their Identity Crisis: That’s What Age Does to You

• 🤖 IBM Was Once an AI Leader

• 🎩 IBM, The Consultant: Putting on a New Hat

• 🤔 (For Paid Subscribers) The Common Factor Between IBM and My Successful Clients

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🧓 IBM’s valuation just increased 10% — Their Identity Crisis: That’s What Age Does to You

Yes, you read that right. IBM’s valuation jumped up yesterday. The world was surprised that they were growing in revenue. Many experts said, “Big Blue is back.”

But dig into those financials;

Revenue from Software (Watson, Cloud, etc.)

• in 2022: $25b

• in 2023: $26.3b (+5.2% year over year)

Revenue from consulting

• in 2022: $19.1b

• in 2023: $19.98b (+4.6% year over year)

They’re making $26 billion from software and $20 billion from consulting (you read that right.)

🤖 IBM Was Once an AI Leader

Gone are the days when IBM was the go-to word that correlates to “software.” I vividly remember launching an edu-tech startup around ten years ago. We needed a machine learning model, and IBM was the clear choice. Google’s was a joke back then.

What happened from then, you ask? Time and speed. The damn lean startup methodology hit IBM hard.

They’d take a decision in a week, while Amazon takes it in 30 seconds. Now Amazon is on top of the cloud while IBM is at the bottom.

🎩 IBM, The Consultant: Putting on a New Hat

I’ve read some of my commentators talking about IBM’s corporate culture and how it’s been slowing down the company for years. The fact that they’re increasing in revenue in consulting and not that much when it comes to innovation shows this more clearly.

But hey, something has to pay the bills, right?

🤔 (For Paid Subscribers) The Common Factor Between IBM and My Successful Clients

This situation reminds me of many qualities that I’ve noticed in some of my clients who have strong financial models.